Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/291

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BRIER CREEK BRIGHAMIA 285 the lake of Thnn. It is about 8 m. long and 2 m. broad, and is embosomed in mountains, some of which, on the south, project in high promontories into the lake. Cascades from these mountains are abundant, the principal of which is the Giessbach. The surface of the lake is about 1,700 ft. above the sea. In the river Aar, E. of the lake, are the falls of Rei- chenbach and Alpbach, the former celebrated for its cascade of 2,000 ft., and the latter for its triple iris in the morning. The village of Brienz is at the N. E. end of the lake, near the entrance of the Aar; pop. in 1868, 4,168. BRIER CREEK, a small stream rising in War- ren co., Ga., flowing S. E. for about 100 m., and entering the Savannah river a few miles E. of Jacksonborough. After the American victory on Kettle creek, in February, 1779, Gen. Ashe was sent at the head of about 1,200 continental troops to drive the British from Augusta. The latter, under the command of Gen. Campbell, evacuated the city, retreated to Brier creek, and after crossing destroyed the bridge. Ashe pursued them, arrived at the creek Feb. 27, and while halting to form a camp, March 3, was surprised by 1,800 British under Gen. Prevost, who crossed the stream 15 m. above, made a wide circuit, attacked his rear, and routed him with a loss of about 150 killed and 189 prison- ers, besides all the baggage, 7 pieces of cannon, about 500 stand of arms, and much ammuni- tion. The British had only 5 killed and 11 wounded, and were enabled by this victory to reoccupy Augusta and open a free communica- tion with the Indians and tories in Florida, western Georgia, and the Carolinas. BRIES (Hun. Brezno-Bdnya), a town of Hungary, in the county of Z61yom, on the Gran, 24 m. N. E. of Neusohl; pop. in 1870, 11,776, nearly all Slovaks. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding. The cheese of Bries is famous. BRIGGS, Charles Frederick, an American au- thor and journalist, born on the island of Nan- tucket about 1810. Early in life he removed to the city of New York, where he edited several periodicals, and became a constant contributor to others. In 1839 he published a novel entitled " The Adventures of Harry Franco, a Tale of the great Panic." Four years later his " Haunted Merchant " appeared, and in 1847 " The Trippings of Tom Pepper, or the Results of Romancing." In 1844 he com- menced the " Broadway Journal," of which in the following year Edgar A. Poe became his associate editor. He was an editor of "Put- nam's Magazine " from 1853 to 1856, in con- nection with George William Curtis and Parke Godwin, and also of the new series of the mag- azine in 1869. He was for some years one of the editors of the "New York Times," and is now (1873) one of the editors of the "Brook- lyn Union." BRIGGS, Henry Perronet, an English painter, born in 1793, died in London in January, 1844. He first exhibited portraits in the royal acad- emy in 1814, and in 1818 appeared as a his- torical painter. His best known works are " Othello relating his Adventures to Desde- mona," and the " First Interview between the Spaniards and Peruvians." BRIGHAM, Amariah, an American physician, born at New Marlborough, Berkshire co., Mass., Dec. 26, 1798, died at Utica, N. Y., Sept. 8, 1849. He commenced the practice of medicine in 1821, resided successively in En- field and Greenfield, Mass., and in Hartford, Conn., and spent a year in European travel and study. In 1837 he delivered a course of lec- tures before the college of physicians and sur- geons at New York. In 1840 he was appoint- ed superintendent of the retreat for the insane at Hartford, and in 1842 of the New York state lunatic asylum at Utica. Here he had the personal care and supervision of 450 or 500 pa- tients, besides which he delivered popular lec- tures on the treatment of the insane, and es- tablished a "Journal of Insanity." He pub- lished in 1832 a small work on "Asiatic Chol- era," and soon afterward a treatise on " Mental Cultivation and Excitement;" in 1836, "The Influence of Religion upon the Health and Physical Welfare of Mankind; " in 1840, "The Anatomy, Physiology, and Pathology of the Brain ; " and in 1849, a small volume of apho- risms and maxims for the use of those who had been under his care, under the title of the " Asylum Souvenir." BRIGHAMIA (Gray), a curious genus of plants, of the family lobeliace<e, discovered in the Ha- waiian Islands, and named for William T. Brig- ham of Boston, Mass. In B. insignia the co- Brighamta. rolla is showy, white with a tinge of cream color ; the long slender tube (4 inches) slightly incurved; lobes 5, about 1 inch long, vulvate in aestivation ; stamens united in a column around the pistil and adnate to the lower half of the calyx tube; stigma 2-lobed, naked; ovary 2-celled; leaves obovate, about 6 or 8